


Giving it All

by RoxySmith



Series: It Could Be Love [6]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Babysitting, Bonding with stepson, Domestic Fight, Haphephobia, Happy!Hotch, Insecure!Reid, M/M, haphephobic!Reid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-13 02:58:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3365186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoxySmith/pseuds/RoxySmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After accepting that his boyfriend had a son from a previous relationship,  Spencer is left babysitting Jack. Reid isn't convinced that he’s the right material for babysitting. All Hotch can do is to hope that his lover doesn't search refugee in the closet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Giving it All

“No, not this time. I’m not letting you in there today” Aaron said as he pressed his body against the closet door to prevent a frustrated Spencer Reid to take cover inside it.   
Spencer had reacted badly when Aaron tried to explain to him that he had a son. The older man just needed to look at his partner for three seconds before he ran past the lanky man and blocked his way into the closet. He knew that look on the genius. They both knew Spencer’s mind was already withdrawing from the world and the body would soon follow. Spencer tried to get the door open but Aaron wouldn't move.

“No Spencer, Not now. We need to talk”   
Spencer was panicking now. It didn't matter what he did, the older man refused to move. Aaron had never blocked his escape route before and he didn't like it. He was fighting and screaming, probably disturbing the neighbors but nothing seemed to work. Aaron was a lot stronger than him, it wasn't a big of an effort for him to keep Spencer out from the closet. It didn't take that long for Spencer to succumb his will. He was giving Hotch a death glare with no result. Aaron wasn't at all intimidated by the younger man.

“Are you ready to listen to me now?” Aaron asked, still pressing his body against the door to keep him out. Spencer was still glaring at him but soon realized his loss.   
“Yes” He finally said as he back away from the closet. Aaron relaxed as he too stepped away from it. He wasn't angry with Spencer. He was keeping himself calm as always.  
“Good, Let’s get you something warm to drink, then we can talk” Aaron said calmly. He knew how to deal with an upset Spencer. The younger man nodded. He was at first shying away from his lovers touch, but soon let the older man hold his hand. He had always been highly sensitive to touch, so much other thought he was suffering from severe haphephobia. They were right in a way. No one had been allowed to touch him, then came Aaron Hotchner and turned his world upside down. Aaron was the only one who was allowed to hold his hand. He had been the first person who had held him without him freaking out. Aaron had been his first kiss and his first sexual contact. 

He trusted Aaron’s touch, and he knew how much it pained the older man when not even he was allowed to touch him. Spencer could see the sadness in Hotch’s eyes every time he flinched away from a touch. Touch was too much for him when he was upset, but seeing the sadness in Aaron’s eyes, knowing it was because of him had been way worse. 

“I’m sorry. I over reacted” Spencer said as he was finishing up his cup of tea. They were in the living room, relaxing in the sofa so they both could calm down. Aaron gave him a soft smile.  
“I'm glad you're not in a full panic attack. I know better than to block your way when you're upset. But I just needed to talk to you” Spencer understood. Even if he hadn't understood it twenty minutes ago, he still got it now. It was quiet again. Neither of them knowing what to say.

“So. You got a son” Spencer finally said when he decided he had avoided it for too long. It wasn't healthy to ignore the matter, and not even he could ignore something that big for eighteen years.

“Yes. I haven’t met him yet. Haley and I thought it would be best that I told you first. I know this is hard for you. I know you hate children and I know how much I’m asking for you to accept that I'm a father. I’ll not force you to meet him but-“ Hotch couldn't say more before Spencer cut him off.

“I want to meet him. I really do” Spencer said, this time placing his hand over Aaron’s.   
“Are you sure? I don't want you to think that I'll leave you just because you don't like my son. This is unfair to you” Spencer nodded.  
“I’m sure” He said as he lean over to give his lover a kiss. He stopped just a few inches away from him.  
“And I don't _hate_ children” He whispered when he finally let his lips touch Aaron’s. 

***

Spencer was miserable. He had the same look on his face as a cat that was forced to take a bath. He was starting to think that he meeting Hotch’s son was a really bad idea. He had met him the child before, they were living under the same roof whenever they weren't on a case for god sake, but they had never connected. Both Hotch and Haley had agreed that Reid needed more alone time to bond with the child, so instead of letting Haley’s sister Jessica take care of the child when Hotch and Haley decided they needed to talk about Jack’s future, they asked Reid. 

Spencer had been mortified by the question, but had soon agreed. He regretted it now. He was terrible with the child. What had he been thinking when he agreed to spending an evening alone with a child he couldn’t even have a conversation with. The child always looked so confused when he talked, and was always quietly asking daddy what he was saying. It was like he was talking in Russian. It had ended with Jack being too afraid to talk with him when they were alone. 

Today he had decided to give it a new shot, even if every particle was screaming for him to lock himself inside the closet. This was Aaron’s son. He knew his boyfriend wouldn't leave him if they didn't get along, but living together would be smoother if they at least could talk to each other. 

He was watching the child as he was drawing quietly on the ground. It wasn't like him. Jack was usually loud around his daddy, not at all shy about letting others know what he was playing. Spencer remembered Aaron telling the child last week that Spencer needed to concentrate and it would be good if he could draw something quietly until he was finished. Did Jack really think it meant that he always needed to be quiet around him? He didn't want that. Sure he enjoyed quiet places like a library, but that didn't mean that he wanted Jack to change his behavior. Forcing Jack to behave like someone he was not in his own house, was like forcing him to play baseball. He didn't want to treat Jack the way his father had treated him. 

He didn't know what to talk about. Jack always looked so confused when he talked, and he had no idea what kids were into. He leaned over and saw the little boy’s drawing.  
“Is that a spacecraft?” He asked, smiling a little when he saw the childish picture. Jack nodded shyly and gave Spencer the picture so the older man could look at it closer. He noticed someone inside the ship. At first he thought it would be Hotch, but the stickman had lighter hair.

“Is it you?” He asked. All kids wanted to be an astronaut. He remembered how he would draw himself in space surrounded by stars and planets that he had learned all the name off. It was his way of dealing with things. Pretending like he was floating around in outer space. There are no feelings in outer space, and that was the way he had liked it. He sadly lost his interest in space as he grew older, but his way of decompressing stayed the same.  
Jack shook his head. “No it’s you”

Spencer’s heart ached from the familiarity by that. His first thought was that Jack was mocking him. His old classmates had all called him an alien because of his weirdness. It just made him feel more like an outsider. It was happening again. Hotch’s son was thinking he was weird in a bad way.   
“Daddy told me that you knew much about space and rockets. So you must have been to space to know all that” Jack said innocently. It shocked Spencer. The kid wasn't mocking him, he was fascinated by his knowledge about something that clearly interested the young boy. 

“Daddy said that you could teach me how to build a rocket if you want to. Please Mr. Spencer, I know you don't like me, but I always wanted to build a rocket” The boy pleaded. Spencer felt happy. He had read the boy all wrong. Jack had liked him all along. And now they had finally found something in common. Building a rocket, that could be a fun project that they could work on together. But maybe when he was older. 

“Of course I'll build a rocket with you. But not today” Jack had the biggest grin he had ever seen on a child’s face before. The happy boy grabbed his hand and dragged him into the small room Hotch had turned in to Jack’s bedroom, leaving all the papers and crayons on the floor. It had been used as a storage before. It wasn't the ideal area for a child, but he only spent the weekends with his father. It would do until Hotch found a bigger house. Hotch who had picked up on his son’s fascination about space, had gotten his son star bed clothing and a picture with the solar system. It reminded him of his own bedroom when he was in Jack age. Except for the ceiling. He remembered how his mother had decorated the ceiling with some stars he had made by using Chemiluminescence. It made them glow in the dark.

“Look, I drew some more pictures with you” He said pointing the wall behind his bed filled with pictures containing everything from dinosaurs to space. The one he was referring to was a picture of stickman and a green stickman, both of them standing in a, what he believed was a park.  
“Why is one green?” Spencer asked as he was trying to deciphering the child’s picture. He hadn't seen kid’s drawings since kindergarten. It was really hard for him to understand. 

“He’s an alien, you're talking to him. Daddy told me that you can speak so many languages, I asked him if you could speak to an alien and he said: probably” Jack said as he was making a face like Aarons and was trying to sound like him. Spencer was quite amused by the child. He didn’t fake the laughter, he genially thought it was funny.

“That was good” Jack seemed happy that he managed to please his father’s ‘special someone’. Spencer sat down with Jack on the floor, and helped the boy to build a spaceship by some lego pieces. It wasn't anything too advanced, just something any five year old would be pleased by managing to build. Aaron would make fun of the way he used his engine doctorate if he saw him now. Morgan too for that matter.   
“I’m hungry” Jack finally announced when he laid the ship back to the ground. Spencer nodded, He had only drank some coffee as lunch and he was starting to get really hungry him too.  
“Me too, what would you like?”   
“Mac ‘n Cheese!” The child happily sang as he skipped away to the kitchen. Spencer walked after the child.  
“Okay then, how about I do the sustenance and you clean up the crayons?” Spencer said. The kid gave him a very confused look. 

“What does, su.. sue…sustance mean?” The boy asked, really confused by the grownup’s language. There was that look again, like he was speaking Russian.   
“It means food” Spencer explained shortly fort the kid. He had slowly started to learn that Jack understood short direct answers better than his long ones. Just like his dad.  
“Why didn't you say so? You're so silly” Jack said, and for the first time didn’t Spencer take offence by the teasing. They ate the dinner together, talking about a cartoon Jack liked. Spencer promised that he would watch it with jack next time it was on. The easy conversation gave Spencer a lot of time to think. He looked at Jack for a while until he finally made a decision.

“Jack, could you play alone for a while? I’ll just need to take a look at something” Jack seemed a bit disappointed. He started to like Spencer, and now he wanted to spend more time with the clever man. He nodded.  
“I suppose… You will come back, right?” Jack asked. Spencer’s heart ached. Not for the same reason as before, but for the fact that the kid thought he was abandoning him. He would never even think about it.

“Of course. I'll still be in the house, just up there. You will just need to shout if you need me” Spencer said as he pointed to a scary looking opening in the ceiling. Daddy had taken him there once, and it was really scary up there. It was cold, dark and he could hear weird noises. He never wanted to be there again.

“Spencer, don’t go there, the monsters can take you!” The child cried out as he gripped Spencer’s hand. It took Spencer all his willpower to not shriek, or pull his hand back. The child holding his hand made him really uncomfortable until he realized it didn’t. He was okay with Jack touching him. He was relaxed in the grip.  
“It’s okay. The monster is too afraid of your daddy to touch me. It knows He will be mad if it touch either of us” he had no idea where it came from. He had originally planned on saying that there were no things such as monsters, only bad people behaving like monsters. He was saying something he knew Aaron would say.

Jack nodded slowly and let Spencer go a bit unwillingly.  
“Please be careful” He said as the grownup disappeared through the opening. Spencer was opening some old boxes who were covered in dust. It had been so many years since he opened them. He just kept them around to have some memories of his mother. Even if he wrote to her every day, he still wanted to keep her old stuff. He finally found the box he was searching for. It didn't take him long to get out what he wanted. He smiled a little when he saw the stars he had over his bed when he was young, laying in a plastic bag. He knew they would be perfect. 

***

The kitchen was a mess when Hotch returned. It wasn't from the cooking. It was from the child friendly experiments Spencer had showed the kid. The wall was full of white splashes, probably from his lover’s rocket. He really feared that he was going to have to avoid Jack’s rockets too. But then again, Reid never shared his tricks so he would be safe. At least until the child was old enough to figure it out himself. It was a mess they could take care off the next day.

It was really late, Jack should be asleep. He didn't want to be away for too long because it was only so little time he could spend with his son. That was what he and Haley had discussed during their dinner. Haley and her boyfriend was planning on moving to Quantico because they had gotten a job offer here. They were planning on how long Jack should be staying with his mom, and how long with his dad. They had finally reached a realistic consensus. 

He decided to go and check on the sleeping child, before he went to bed with Spencer. His lover wasn't reading or watching TV so he figured that he had already gone to bed. Children could be exhausting, especially when you weren't use to them.

Aaron got a surprise when he saw that the lights were on in Jack’s room. He opened the door and found Jack playing with his Lego on the ground and Spencer sleeping in his bed, taking up the whole area.  
“Daddy!” Jack exclaimed happily when he saw his hero in the opening. He was already there, hugging him tightly.   
“Hi there little man. Spencer stealing your bed?” Hotch asked, a bit amused to see the grownup knocked out over the bed. His son had even pulled the blanket over the older man. Jack nodded.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. He just seemed so tired so I let him sleep. I wanted to show you something” Jack said and was clearly excited over something.  
“What do you want to show me?” Aaron asked, thinking it would be something Jack had drawn or built. Jack was nearly jumping because he couldn't keep himself still.   
“Look what Spencer gave me, they're so cool, and they're glowing in the dark” Jack said as he pointed to the ceiling where he saw Spencer’s old stars. He had seen them before in his boyfriend’s old room. They had clearly meant a lot for his lover and for him to give them to Jack filled him with joy. 

“Daddy why are you crying?” Jack asked as he wiped the tears from his father’s face. Hotch rarely showed his emotions unless he was home. He wasn't the kind of person who cried of joy, or cried at all, but what Spencer had done was too much for him. A part of him thought he would find Reid locked inside the closet and a crying Jack. But Spencer had pulled through it. He clearly wanted this relationship to work. Spencer was giving it his all.

**Author's Note:**

> For you who cares. This is spouse to take place 4-6 month after the last one, enough time for Hotch and Jack to develop a good relationship.Really Hope that Chemiluminescence was the right substance. Last time I had chemistry were in junior high school and we sure didn’t use Chemiluminescence. Hope you guys liked this. Next I’m planning to make a case fic with multiple chapters for the next installment in this series. That will take longer to write since I never write chapters in a chronological order. Of course I could squeeze another in between this one and the casefic one if someone wants to wish a prompt. 
> 
> I’m also planning on starting two other Criminal Minds series. One based of BBC’s Torchwood (a spinoff of Doctor Who) featuring an Alien Reid in the team. The other one just a series of random one shot’s that have nothing to do with each other, other than they all featuring Hotch/Reid.  
> If any of you guys have a prompt for them, just hit me with it. I don’t bite… unless you want me too ;)


End file.
